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Full Idea
Beliefs have been ascribed to machines, in support of a mechanistic philosophy, and I share this attitude.
Gist of Idea
Beliefs can be ascribed to machines
Source
Willard Quine (Intensions Revisited [1977], p.123)
Book Ref
Quine,Willard: 'Theories and Things' [Harvard 1981], p.123
A Reaction
[He cites Raymond Nelson] One suspects that this is Quine's latent behaviourism speaking. It strikes me as a crass misuse of 'belief' to ascribe it to a simple machine like a thermostat.
| 13589 | Possible worlds are a way to dramatise essentialism, and yet they presuppose essentialism [Quine] |
| 13588 | A rigid designator (for all possible worlds) picks out an object by its essential traits [Quine] |
| 13591 | Quantified modal logic collapses if essence is withdrawn [Quine] |
| 13590 | Essences can make sense in a particular context or enquiry, as the most basic predicates [Quine] |
| 8483 | Necessity is relative to context; it is what is assumed in an inquiry [Quine] |
| 13592 | Beliefs can be ascribed to machines [Quine] |